Devastated city's agony

Suburb from hell ... the firestorm gutted dozens of houses in Duffy in Canberra's south-west, the worst-hit area of the city, while inexplicably leaving others untouched. Two people from the suburb have been confirmed as among the death toll of four from the weekend blazes. Photo: Pat Scala

Canberra's Government has rejected claims that it failed to prepare adequately for the firestorm that killed four people and destroyed 368 homes in the worst bushfires to hit an Australian city.

The ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, said Saturday's 80 kmh gusts and dry country had produced a once-in-a-century fire that spanned 35 kilometres and engulfed suburbs on the city's bush-fringed west which could not have been prepared for.

"It was a holocaust of an extent that we simply did not and could not possibly have had the capacity to foresee or deal with," he said.

But NSW firefighters yesterday blamed poor planning and inexperience as a factor in the eruption of blazes, which wiped out hundreds of millions of dollars worth of homes, schools, government facilities and the Stromlo Observatory.

More than 2000 people were evacuated, 60 hospitalised and another 300 treated in Canberra Hospital's busiest day. Three people were flown to Sydney for specialist burns treatment.");document.write("

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The Australian Federal Police confirmed last night that 368 homes had been destroyed, revised down from an earlier figure of 388. Emergency officials say up to 200 more were damaged.

Thousands of households were still without power and telephones and residents were being asked to conserve water. There was a danger of raw sewage spilling from a fire-damaged sewerage plant.

The executive director of ACT Emergency Services, Mike Castle, said that by Saturday afternoon there were 1000 people, 14 aircraft and 173 vehicles - of which 119 were firetrucks - fighting three fires in rugged bush in outlying areas of the ACT when the firestorm hit the city's south-western suburbs.

"Those fires developed very quickly, fanned by north-westerly winds. The winds were varying between north-west, south-west that actually [kept] expanding the firefront, and the firefront every time it zigzags and changes tack you get the initial front that was burning on plus 30 degrees either side, so you start to develop larger and larger fronts."

When the firestorm hit the suburb of Duffy, where three people died, only 12 firetrucks were in the city.

Many people who lost their houses said they had received no warning and that firefighters had arrived too late or not at all.

"It just came so fast nobody had any warning," said Vanessa Whelan, a resident of suburban Duffy. "The front garden was on fire and we still hadn't been told to evacuate.

A resident of Eppalock Street, Duffy, said: "We had no warning whatsoever. It just happened so quickly. No one told us to evacuate. The fire was in front and behind the house and they were still saying on TV the safest place to be was at home."

Ken O'Reilly added: "The fire was approaching the house. We drove through fire to get out."

ACT officials said all reasonable measures had been taken.

Following a build-up of three fires covering 50,000 hectares in neighbouring bushland during the past week, the territory's emergency service had reassured residents 24 hours beforehand.

It stated at 3.45pm on Friday that "residents should not be unduly concerned as the NSW Rural Fire Service reports that the fire is still within containment lines".

However, senior NSW officers spoke privately last night about their frustrations with ACT fire chiefs in the days before the fires. "We offered anything they wanted and they asked for four task forces [20 vehicles and 80 officers]." These were prepared for deployment yesterday but "it was obvious that more help would be needed".

A second call for help was made on Saturday afternoon, not by ACT officers but by a senior NSW officer, Mark Crosweller, who had been sent to Canberra that morning to help co-ordinate the response to a growing emergency.

The Rural Service Fire Commissioner, Phil Koperberg, confirmed last night that he had been concerned for several days about the potential for disaster. He would not comment further on the ACT's response.

But a senior officer said last night: "They [the ACT] were in a state of denial. Blind Freddy could have seen what was about to happen."

The Prime Minister, John Howard, who cut short his holiday to inspect the devastated suburb of Duffy, refused to lay blame."When something as sudden as this happens, it's a miracle to me what the emergency services are able to achieve, and I will not join any criticism of the emergency services.

"Given the ferocity and the suddenness and the intensity, it is a miracle more people didn't lose their lives. This is the worst bushfire scene I've come across anywhere in Australia - indeed, anywhere."

Mr Stanhope described the fires as "one of the most appalling natural disasters that Australia has ever suffered in terms of bushfire damage ..."

The Governor-General, Peter Hollingworth, also toured the stricken suburbs. He said Canberra's bush surroundings made it "doubly difficult" to defend houses and lives from fire, but the concept of the bush capital was not at threat.